Sri Lankan carrier FitsAir will begin operating direct flights between Ahmedabad and Colombo three times a week from June 19, in a move officials said was aimed at deepening links with western India and boosting tourism, Newswire reported on Sunday.
The new service will cut travel time from nearly nine hours with stopovers to about three hours direct, opening Gujarat to Sri Lankan tour operators and easing access for Sri Lankan diaspora visitors and business travellers.
Industry executives said India had become Sri Lanka’s largest source market. Kamal Munasinghe of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts told WION that India contributed around 500,000 tourist arrivals last year and that further growth was expected this year. He described Ahmedabad as “an untapped market” despite existing direct links from other Indian cities.
Walkers Tours chief executive Nalaka Amaratunga said India accounted for around 24 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total arrivals in 2025, with more than 531,000 Indian visitors recorded. He also pointed to rising demand for MICE travel, with Sri Lanka increasingly hosting Indian corporate events supported by upgraded hospitality infrastructure and integrated resort developments in Colombo.
Sri Lanka recorded more than 800,000 visitor arrivals in the first four months of 2026, although the pace slowed by 27 per cent in April as Middle East war disruption hit travel sentiment. March arrivals fell 19 per cent year-on-year, making India connectivity a key lever for the rest of the year.
The route announcement comes alongside a broader push by Sri Lankan and foreign carriers to rebuild Colombo connectivity. SriLankan Airlines recently signed an AUD 8.32 million ground-handling contract with Menzies Aviation for Sydney operations, and FitsAir’s western-India expansion adds a third Indian metropolitan beyond Mumbai and Chennai to its existing network.
Source: Newswire.
